Switch-tongue.



PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906 P. L. BAILEY.

SWITCH TONGUE. APPLICATION FILED NOV.23,1B0|6.

V JNVENTOR. Pa rJ's L.Ba1'1e:y.

W1 7 NE SSES ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PARIS L. BAILEY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

SWITCH-TONGUE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

Application filed November 23, 1905- Serial No. 288,666.

, To all whom it may concern.-

, nection with street-railways, with the parts so arranged that theswitch will not be thrown by a passing car-wheel, and the great troubleof split switches? be avoided.

The chief feature of the invention consists in providing a centralrearward extension to the switch-tongue for pivoting it and in pivotingsuch tongue extension out of the path or tread of the carwheels. Thepivoting of the switch-tongue by means of a rearwardly-extending portionwill not in itself avoid the trouble as long as the parts are arrangedso that a car-wheel will run over the pivot, for then the tongue is bythe great weight of the wheel on the pivot rendered free to move ineither direction-that is, it is balanced so as to be liable to move thewrong way.

' The foregoing and other features of the invention will be understoodfrom the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of astreet-railway switch with the ends thereof broken away and parts shownin dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rear end of Fig. 1 with aplate over the pivotpoint of the switch being removed and the oltsholding said late being in cross-section. Fig. 3 is a verticalongitudinal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. verse section on the line4 4 of Fig. 1.

Referrin now to the details of the construction s own in the drawings,10 represents a railway-rail, forming part of what may be called themain track. 11 is the switch-rail. 12is the guardfor the uard-rail, and13 is a guard for the switch-rai A bedplate 14 extends throughout thelength of the switch-tongue 15 and under it and the rails and guards.The rear end of this bed-plate 14 at 16 extends upward between the mnerrail 11 and the outer guard-rail 12 almost to the top level of theswitch. The extreme rear end of said plate 17 extends up to a level Fig.4 is a vertical transwith the top surface of the switch, as seen inFigs. 1 and 3.

The portion 16 of the base is centrally cut out vertically andlongitudinally for a portion of its thickness, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3,to receive the rearward extension 18 from the tongue, whereby saidtongue is pivoted to said base by the pivot 19, and a plate 20 issecured by the bolts 21 upon said portion 16 of the bed-plate and coversthe rearward extension 18 from the tongue 16, said plate 21 being flushwith the upper portion of the tongue, It keeps the dirt away from thepivotal point of the tongue. The recess or cut-out portion of thebed-plate is sufficiently wide to give the tongue enough lateral play tomake its movements easy. The shoulders 22 of the switch-tongue slopeoutwardly and away from the pivotal end of the switchtongue, as shown,and are sufficiently far from the pivotal point 19 of the switchtonguethat if a wheel-flange should strike a tongue it could not throw theswitch.

In ordinary switches the shoulder, 22 is to the rear of the pivot-point19 or about even with it, so that when it is engaged by a Wheel thewheel is liable to throw the switch-tongue the wrong way, and thus splitthe switch. The pivotal point 19 is located sufficiently far from eachside that the tread of the wheel will not run over the pivotal point norwill it run over the rear extension 18, but will leave the switch-tongueat one of the shoulders 22. Hence it is impossible for a wheel to splita switch provided with a tongue arranged as herein shown.

In order, furthermore, that the switchtongue may remain positively inthe place into which it has been thrown and should remain, I provide aplate 25 between the guardrail 12 and the rail 11, as seen in Fig. 4,provided with a pair of longitudinal grooves on each side of the centerrib 26. These grooves are adapted to receive the point of theswitchtongue, which is made so that the lower edge will be V-shaped intransverse section, as seen in Fig. 4. It is obvious that when theswitch-tongue is thrown it will not change itsposition until it isthrown by some proper person or means and cannot be moved by accident orby the movement of the car.

This sort of switch-tongue is made necessary and very important inconnection with railways for interurban lines or where very heavyelectric cars are used. These heavy .cars are so liable to split theswitch that the IIO conductor is required to watch every switch that thecar goes over and signal the motorman when it is all right. This is anexpense and a nuisance that can be avoided by this invention. While itis more necessary to have this construction on interurban lines, stillit is very useful for ordinary street-railways, as frequently theirswitches get split and the cars are thrown sidewise and damagedconsiderably. The plate 20, covering the rearward extension from theswitchtongue and bearing down upon it, tends to hold the point of theswitch-tongue down in a groove on the plate 25, so as to make the snitch-tongue more difficult to move latera y.

The length of the switch-tongue when arranged as heretofore set forthmay be any length desired, so as to conform to the requirement about thecar-wheels running over the pivotal point of the switch-tongue. Atpresent switch-tongues have to be made so long that the second wheel ofa truck will run onto the point of the switch-tongue before the firstwheel of the truck leaves the switchtongue in order to prevent theswitch-tongue from changing position. With my invention this isunnecessary, as it would not change position between the time of onewheel leaving the switch-tongue and the next wheel running upon it. Thisdifficulty is peculiar to singletruck cars. With double truck cars thepresent switch is always liable to be moved or split between the timethat the front trucks leave the switch-tongue and the rear trucks runupon the switch-tongue.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a railway-switch, a switch-tongue with a central rearwardextension for pivoting the same, a bed-plate on which said switoh-tongueis placed with its rear portion thickened so as to extend up almost tothe top level of the switch-tongue and provided with a vertical recessfor the extension from the switch-tongue, said rearward portion of thebed-plate being so wide that ear-wheels cannot pass over said recessedportion,.

means for pivoting the rear ends of said extension of the switch-tonguein the recess of said rear portion of the bed-plate, and a plate securedon said rear portion of the bedplate which covers said rearwardextension of the switch-tongue, substantially as set forth.

2. I11 a railway-switch, a switch-tongue with the lower surface of thepoint thereof made somewhat V-shaped, and a plate on which said point ismoved laterally that is provided with a central rib with a groove oneach side in which the point of the switchtongue may rest.

3. In a railway-switch, a switch-tongue with a central rearwardextension for pivoting the same and with the lower surface of the pointthereof made somewhat V-shaped, a plate on which said point is movedlaterally that is provided with a central rib with a groove on each sidein which the point of the switch-tongue may rest, a bed-plate on whichsaid switch-tongue is pivoted at its rear end, and a plate secured tosaid bed-plate and extending over the rear end of the switchtongue so asto bear down upon the same and tend to hold the point of theswitch-tongue in place.

In witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presenceof the witnesses herein named.

PARIS L. BAILEY.

Witnesses:

N. ALLEMONG, HELEN B. MoCoRD.

